Rail tie-plate and fastener.



J. H. MILLER.

RAIL TIE PLATE AND PASTENBR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12. 1912.

' Patented July 23, 1912.

awuzmboz amn;

lm humus UNITED STATES PATENT orr oii.

mm: a. KILLER, or nnonnsnuno, 'rnn'nsnvanu.

mu. rmrtarn am) newsman.

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, JOHN H. MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Mercersburg, in the. county of Franklin and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RailTie-Plates and Fasteners, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention comprehends certain new and useful improvements in railsupports and fastening devices, and the invention has for its primaryobject a simple, durable and eflicient construction of tie plate andrail fastener, the parts of which can be easily formed and quicklyplaced in proper relation to the rail.

A further object of the invention is a device of this character which,in applied position or operation, will securely hold the rails fromtilting and spreading, which will be so constructed and arran ed thatmovement or displacement of the tie plate and its component parts willbe effectively prevented, which will securely hold the rails as againstany laterally shifting movement and which may be easily and quicklyadjusted, so as to shift either rail, when required, to restore andmaintain the required age.

'A still further object of. t e invention is to provide, morespecifically, an improved construction of tie plate and rail support andfastener in which the parts that directly support and engage the railare so proportioned and arranged that the'fstronger or heavier bearingwilllie on the inside of the rail so as to assist in. eflicientlywithstanding any tendency to tilt and spread. And the invention alsoaims to generally improve devices of this class-and to render them moreuseful and commercially desirable.

With these and other objects in view, as

will more fully appear as the description proceeds, the inventionconsists in certain constructions, arrangements and combinations oftheparts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim. 1 a

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawing in which,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of my improved tie plateshowing it attached to a metallic tie. Fig. 2 is a top plan viewthereof. Fig. 3 is an end view,

and, Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of one ofthe plates or sectionsof the rail sup-.

reference characters.

, s eineamntr Letters Patent. PatentedJuly 23,-191 2. .Alpplicationfiled April 12, 1912. Serial'No. 690,325.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates my improved tie-platewhich is composed of metal and which may be formed as a single orone-piece steel casting, requiring no mill or machine work for itsformation, said tie plate being formedat its ends with a ertures 2 forthe receptlon of spikes or ot er fasteningdevices, whereby t e. platemay be rigidly and permanently connected to the tie.

The tie plate 1 is formed near its ends with undercut flanges 3 whichextend from one side of the tie plate to the other, in the presentembodiment of the invent-ion, and which are formed, preferably, withslightly sloping outer faces 4 and with threaded apertures 5 extendinginwardly and slightly downwardly therethrough to the inner sides of theflanges. In the present instance, there is a pair of these aperturesformed {in each flange. The threaded apertures 5 are. de-

signed to receive bolts 6 which work inwardly therein and which arepreferably. provided with pointed inner ends and with square or othermany sided heads 8, whereby the. bolts may be easily turned by theapplication of a socket wrench or similar tool thereto.

The inner ends 7 of the bolts 6 work in sockets 9 that are formed in theouter side edges of chair sections 10 and 11 which'are adapted tobe-slipped by an endwise movement into engagement with the plate andunderneath and between the flanges 3, each of said chair sections beinformed with an undercut flange12designe to overhang and securely engageone of the base flanges of arail, as clearly illustrated in the drawing.The chair section 11 is formed in its lower face with a recess 13 andthe chair section 10 is formed with a corresponding tongue ex- Fig. 1.These two parts are preferably so arranged that spaces will be left atthe ends of the joint thus formed so as to compensate for wear andpermit the two sections to be adjusted inwardly, one upon the other,

as required. They are also so proportioned relative to thespace betweenthe undercut flanges 3 that the entire chair may be shifted laterally ineither direction so as to adjust the rail-for ga e. V

From as much 0 'the description as has preceded, in connection with theaccompanying drawing, it will be understood that in the practicaloperation and use of my improved tie plate and rail fastening devices,after the plate has been secured by spikes or other fastening devices tothe tie, and the rail supported between the undercut flanges 3, thesections 10 and 11 of the chair are slipped by'a transverse movementinto engagement with the base flanges of the rail and the chair is thenslipped by an endwise movement in between and undehneath the undercutflanges 3 until the sockets 9 register with the inner rounded ends 7 ofthe bolts 6, whereupon the bolts are worked inwardly and downwardly inthe threaded apertures 5 into firm engagement with the chairsectionswhich are thus forced inwardly toward each other and the rail ti htlyclam edin position upon the tie p ate. In or er to shift the rail forgage, it is only necessary to loosen up on one pa r of bolts 6 and toinsert a crow-bar or similar instrument between the vertically disposedshoulders 12, 3 of one of the chair sec tions and the adjoining flange3, whereby to secure the required leverage "to move the rail over to therequired point. The bolts are then again tightened up so as to securelyhold the rail in the position to which it has been adjusted.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a very simple, durable andeflicient construction of tie plate and rail fastening devices, by theuse of which a rail will be positively prevented from tilting andspreading, in which the bolts 6 not only securely clamp the chairsections 10 and 11 upon the rail to prevent any lateral movement orshifting thereof, but also by engagement in the sockets 9, prevent anylongitudinal displacement of the chair sections, and in which the partsare so constructed and arranged that the chair sect-ions will, when thebolts are tightened up, be held firmly down upon the tie plate and alsofirmly hold the rail in position.

It is to be understood that my invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinbefore described andillustrated in the accompanying drawing, as various changes may be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in theappended claims. It is also to be understood that my improved tie plateand rail fastening devices may be used with equal facility with woodenor metallic ties.

When used with wooden ties, it is obvious that the tie plates willserve, to a considerable degree, to increase the longevity of the tiefor actual service, as it will be only necessary to spike .the tie oncewhen the tie plate is initially placed and secured in position, ,therebyavoidin the disinte 'ation of and injury to the tie by repeats spik- I fdesired, the tie plate and rail fastening devices may be used with ametallic tie that I have designed, such as that illustrated in Fig. 3,said tie being formed of a single sheet of steel bent u on itself toproduce a hollow structure with downwardly and inwardly beveled sides 16and with a bottom 17 which lies substantially parallel with the flat topof the tie, the'side edges of the sheet being brought into abuttingrelation with each other, but preferably not directly connected. With atie of this formation, it is evident that proper ballast may be had, asthe ballast may be fastened and packed down underneath the inwardlybeveled sides 16 and thus prevent the tie from sinking, the ballastbetween two adjacent ties being banked at the ties by this bevelformation so as to effectually resist downward stresses. Preferably, inarranging the parts, the heavier chair section 10 with its extendedtongue 1%, is disposed on the inner side of the rail, so that the devicemay resist, to a maximum degree, the tilting strains to which the railis subjected, particularly on curves.

What I claim is 1, A device of the character described, comprising a tieplate formed for attachment to a tie and provided with undercut flangesfacin each other, a chair consisting of sections a apted to he slippedby an endwise movement underneath said flanges, one of said chairsections being formed in its lower face with a recess and the othersection being formed with a tongue extending into said recess, both ofsaid sections being formed with flanges for engagement with the baseflanges of a rail, and bolts working inwardly through the undercutflanges of the tie plate and adapted to engage the outer side edges ofsaid chair sections, for the purpose specified.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a tie plate formedfor connection to a tie and provided with undercut flanges facing eachother, said flanges being formed with inwardly and downwardly openingthreaded apertures, bolts working in said apertures, and a chairconsisting of mating sections adapted to he slipped by an endwisemovement underneath sald undercut flanges, said sections being formedwith undercut flanges for engagement with the base flanges of a rail,one of said sections being formed with a recess and the other with atongue extending into said recess underneath said recemed section, bothsections being formed in their outer side edges with sockets forengagement by the inner ends of said bolts.

3. A device of the character described, including a tie plate arran edfor attachment to a tie and formed wit undercut flanges facing eachother, a chair consisting of sections adapted to be slipped by anendwise movement underneath said flanges and formed with undercutflanges designed for engagement with the base anges of a rail, andfastening devices extending throu h said undercut flanges of the tieplate and a signed for engagement with the side edges of the chairsections, for the purpose specivertically dis osed shoulders spaced fromeach other, w ereby a tool may be applied thereto to wedge the chair inone direction or the other, as required. i

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN H. MILLER. Witnesses:

WM. P. WILSON, H. A. Hoovnn.

